Apparatus for imparting a polish



G. E. KOPPE APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING A, POLISH Nov. 2, 1937.

Filed April 16, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l fizerrz & 7%

-Zzl7 7 07776] Nov. 2, 1937. G. E. KOPPE APPARATUS FOR IMBARTING A POLISH Filed April 16, 1932 s Sheets-Sheet- 2 llllu 1 5% M- Z13 w??? Nov. 2, 1937. G. E. KOFPE 2,097,885

/ APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING A POLISH 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 16, 1932 Patented Nov. 2, 1937 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My present invention relates to the polishing of natural and artificial products such as ivory, horn, celluloid, phenol condensation products and the like, and has particular reference to the polishing of dice and similar small articles.

The manufacture of dice for backgammon sets and the like has entailed cutting of blocks, stamping the cut blocks, filling the stamped recesses, and polishing the dice. The latter operation has heretofore involved a buffing operation that was slow, required an excessive labor cost, and was not lasting, as the buffing operation produced a surface polish only.

It is the principal object of my invention to utilize a polishing procedure which does not require buffing, and which produces a lasting polish of exceptional brilliance. To this end, I utilize a chemical which is readily absorbed by and combines with the material to produce a lacquer-like finish which is hardened. by heat treatment to a brilliant surface of exceptional wearing and abrasion-resistant qualities.

Since the finish is produced by absorption of the chemical utilized, it becomes desirable to suspend the articles so as to expose substantially all the surface, in order to eliminate unfinished spots and areas. It is therefore a further object of my invention to utilize a form of container for the articles that will expose substantially the entire surface thereof to treatment.

The procedure I have found most suitable for obtaining the finish comprises the steps of treating the articles with the chemical vapor, and subjecting the treated articles to dry heat. I have therefore devised a mechanism for obtaining these steps automatically, in sequence, and with no labor other than the feeding ofthe unfinished articles to the mechanism.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention comprises a novel apparatus for treating articles to obtain a lasting, brilliant surface, as more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and as more particularly defined in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the novel apparatus; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through 50 Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective showing a novel article carrier; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the striker bar 55 assembly.

Referring to the drawings, the novel machine is of generally elongated box shape, the casing It! being open at its upper portion at one end, and at the lower corner at the other end, as hereinafter described, and divided with a vapor treating section II and a heat treatment or yer section [2. A conveyor I3 is mounted casing, and comprises spaced chains which Efish with the teeth of pairs of sprockets Hi riespectively mounted on cross shafts I5 in the front and rear of the casing.

Article carriers l6 extend transversely of and are mounted on the spaced chains, each article carrier being formed of a sheet metal framework .I'! having end portions l8 which are soldered to the links of the chains, and a central mesh screening l9 which has a plurality of mesh cup holders therein, these cup holders preferably being hemi-spherical.

The upper portion of the casing, as shown in Fig. 2, is shaped to approach the'conveyor, inlet opening 2| being formed to permit placing of the articles to be finished within the cup holders, the adjacent portion being shaped, as at 22, to provide a feed plate. The remainder of the upper portion is raised to provide a chamber within which a deflector or guide 23 is mounted, the deflector being bent as shown to provide an outlet chamber 24 which communicates with an exhaust stack 25 leading to the outer atmosphere.

A vapor inlet tube 26 is transversely positioned in the outlet chamber at the lower portion thereof just above the conveyor and the article carriers, and has outlet openings 21 which direct the chemical vapor downwardly into the cup holders. As shown in Fig. 3, the. chemical, which is preferably in the form of a liquid,1is stored in a tank 28, and is fed through a feed chamber 29 and a manually controlled valve 30 into a vaporizer 3 l of any standard form, the preferred form comprising a central electrically heated tube 32. The generated vapor, which is under low pressure, passes from the vaporizer at the upper end thereof, into the connection 33 which is part of the tube 26.

The preferred chemical is a mixture of ethyl acetate and alcohol, but other chemicals of similar penetration and lacquering effect may be utilized instead; a suitable proportion is two parts of acetate to one part of alcohol.

' Referring now to Fig. 2, the operating mechanism derivesits power from a motor 34, which is mounted in hangers suspended from the easing l0, and is belt connected to a suction fan which is mounted on a support shelf at the side of the casing and receives air through an inlet stack 36, and exhausts the air under pressure into a feed line 31, the feed line being flattened and bent backwardly at its end 38 and to increase the flow velocity and to direct the pressure air into the casing. The motor shaft 39 is chain connected to a shaft 40 which operates a sprocket 4| through a reduction worm gearing 42, the sprocket 4| being connected by means of a chain 43 to a sprocket '44 keyed to the rear shaft l5, whereby the conveyor is positively driven at a low speed.

The air leaving the feed line is directed over a heater 45, which is preferably in the form of an electrically heated plate, and the-heated, dried air rises through the conveyor and the article carriers to strike the deflector 23. This deflector is waved, as shown, to deflect the ascending heated air downwardly, whereby the articles in the cup holders are continuously subjected to the heated, dry air. The deflector 23 has a sharp bend 46 at its forward end which separates the outlet chamber 24 from the remainder of the deflector area and extends almostto the conveyor to force the heated air into intimate. contact with the articles prior to passage of the air into the outlet chamber. A second heater 4? is located just below the conveyor below the bend 46 -to reheat the air and to assist in keeping the temperature high in the vicinity of the vapor inlet tube 26; both heaters are controlled by suitable rheostats in a control box or the like at the side of the casing.

Referring to Fig. 3, the rear shaft I is extended laterally to permit keying of a toothed cam wheel 48 thereto, the teeth 49 thereof periodically engaging one end of a lever 56 which is pivoted tothe casing, as at 5!, and is spring urged to contacting position by a tension spring 52 fastened to the casing. A plunger bar 53 is pivoted to the lever, its end. impacting, one end of a striker bar 54 whichis pivoted in a bracket or the like 55 secured to the casing, the other end being spread as indicated at 58 and posisures the holding of the articles at spaced points of minute area. As the conveyor advances, the articles come under the vapor inlet tube, and are subjected to the hot vapor, which thoroughly coats the entire surface of each article and penetrates therein. The coated articles now pass into repeated contact with the heated dry air to thoroughly and uniformly dry the coated articles and thus provide a hard, lacquer-like, brilliant shine. As the article carriers pass over the end sprockets, the striker bar periodically jars the article carriers to ensure release of the articles therefrom.

It is thus seen that the polishing is entirely automatic; the feeding, if desired, may also be through standard type directional feeders to make the mechanism completely automatic. The labor'cost of buffing is eliminated, and the output speeded up, thus reducing the cost of manufacture and at the same time increasing the attractiveness of the finished product and the lasting nature of the polish obtained.

While I have described a specific arrangement of mechanism and a specific chemical vapor for producing the desired result, such changes in the arrangement and the form of the mechanism and in thechemical used may be made as appear advisable and desirable to suit difierent materialsto be polished, within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. I

I claim:

1. In combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a conveyor mounted in said casing, a deflector mounted above said conveyor and dividing the upper portion of said .casing into a treatment chamber and a drying chamber, means for passing chemical vapor into saidtreatment chamber, and means for passing heated air through said drying chamber.

2. In combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a conveyor mounted in said casing, a deflector mounted above said conveyor and dividing the upper portion of said casing into a treatment chamber and a drying chamber, means for passing chemical vapor into said treatment chamber, and means for passing heated air through said drying chamber and through said conveyor in a plurality of streams.

3. In combination, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a conveyor mounted in said casing, a deflector mounted above said conveyor and having arcuate guide surfaces, said deflector having one portion extending in close proximity to said conveyor for dividing the upper portion of said casing into a treatment chamber and a drying chamber, means for passing chemical vapor into said treatment chamber, and means for passing heated air through said drying chamber.

GUSTAVE E. K OPPE. 

